2015 Rugby League European Championship
International rugby league football tournament From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2015 Rugby League European Championship was an international rugby league football tournament. The tournament took place between 16 October and 7 November in Wales, France, Scotland and Ireland.
| 2015 Rugby League European Championship | |
|---|---|
| Number of teams | 4 |
| Host countries | Wales France Scotland Ireland |
| Winner | Wales (7th title) |
| Matches played | 6 |
| Attendance | 15,301 (2,550 per match) |
| Points scored | 225 (37.5 per match) |
| Tries scored | 41 (6.83 per match) |
| Top scorer | Courtney Davies (22) |
| Top try scorer | Tony Gigot (4) |
Scotland were the defending champions. Four teams competed in the 2015 event; Wales, Scotland, France and Ireland.[1] Wales won the European Championship after winning all of their games putting them on top of the table with the maximum points tally of 6.[2]
After the tournament's last game there would be no European Championship tournament until the 2018 Championship due to the events occurring such as the 2016 Four Nations, 2017 World Cup qualifying competitions and the 2017 World Cup Finals.
Teams
| Team | Coach | Captain | RLIF Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
 France |
Richard Agar | Jason Baitieri | 5 |
 Ireland |
Mark Aston | Liam Finn | 7 |
 Scotland |
Steve McCormack | Danny Brough | 8 |
 Wales |
John Kear | Craig Kopczak | 9 |
Squads
Summarize
Perspective
France
Head Coach: 
- On 1 October, Richard Agar named the following 23 players as part of his squad in preparation for the tournament.[3]
Ireland
Head Coach:
- On 2 October, Mark Aston named the following 22 players as part of his squad in preparation for the tournament.[4]
- On 6 November, Robbie Mulhern was a late call-up for Mark Aston's team in the lead up to their crucial final match against Wales.[5]
| Player | Games | Points | Position | 2015 Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scott Grix | 3 | 4 | FB | Huddersfield Giants |
| Callum Mulkeen | 3 | 4 | WG | Gloucestershire All Golds |
| Casey Dunne | 3 | 4 | WG | Athboy Longhorns |
| Bradley Hargreaves | 3 | 8 | CE | Rochdale Hornets |
| James Mendeika | 2 | 0 | CE | Bradford Bulls |
| Liam Finn (C) | 3 | 14 | SO | Castleford Tigers |
| Ben Johnston | 3 | 0 | SH | Halifax |
| Gregg McNally | 0 | 0 | SH | Leigh Centurions |
| Joseph Keyes | 3 | 0 | SH | London Broncos |
| Matty Hadden | 3 | 0 | PR | Rochdale Hornets |
| Sean Hesketh | 1 | 0 | PR | Batley Bulldogs |
| Luke Ambler | 3 | 8 | PR | Halifax |
| Colton Roche | 0 | 0 | PR | York City Knights |
| Gareth Gill | 1 | 0 | PR | Ballynahinch Rabbitohs |
| Danny Bridge | 3 | 0 | SR | Rochdale Hornets |
| Will Hope | 3 | 0 | SR | Oldham R.L.F.C. |
| Elliot Cosgrove | 3 | 0 | SR | Batley Bulldogs |
| Oliver Roberts | 3 | 0 | SR | Huddersfield Giants |
| Haydn Peacock | 2 | 0 | SR | AS Carcassonne |
| Graham O'Keeffe | 2 | 0 | SR | Oxford RLFC |
| Dave Allen | 0 | 0 | SR | Whitehaven |
| Bob Beswick | 3 | 0 | LF | Leigh Centurions |
Scotland
Head Coach:
- On 30 September, Steve McCormack named the following 29 players as part of his squad in preparation for the tournament.[6]
- On 9 October, Steve McCormack brought in two new players to the squad after the withdrawals from seven players: Craig Borthwick, Mitch Stringer, Brett Carter, Jon Molloy, Callum Phillips and Brett Phillips. Billy McConnachie was also suspended for the first two games. The two new players McCormack brought in are: Louis Senter and Joe McLean.[7]
- On 7 November, Sam Brooks was called up to play for Steve McCormack's side in the final game of the tournament against France to fill in for injuries.[8] Gavin Grant was also called up to play in the team, for the game against France, which became the youngest ever international senior Scottish team to play an international match with an average age of 22.[9]
| Player | Games | Points | Position | 2015 Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Walker | 3 | 0 | FB | London Broncos |
| Harvey Burnett | 3 | 0 | WG | Unattached |
| Richard Harris | 3 | 0 | WG | Warrington Wolves |
| David Scott | 3 | 4 | WG | Doncaster |
| Craig Robertson | 0 | 0 | WG | Edinburgh Eagles |
| Ben Hellewell | 2 | 0 | CE | London Broncos |
| Shane Toal | 2 | 8 | CE | Barrow Raiders |
| Finlay Hutchison | 1 | 0 | CE | Edinburgh Eagles |
| Scott Plumridge | 2 | 0 | CE | Edinburgh Eagles |
| Danny Brough (C) | 2 | 10 | SO | Huddersfield Giants |
| Oscar Thomas | 3 | 10 | SO | London Broncos |
| Louis Senter | 0 | 0 | SH | Easterhouse Panthers |
| Finn Murphy | 0 | 0 | SH | Edinburgh Eagles |
| Sam Barlow | 0 | 0 | PR | Leigh Centurions |
| Ben Kavanagh | 3 | 0 | PR | Widnes Vikings |
| Adam Walker | 1 | 0 | PR | Hull Kingston Rovers |
| Jonathan Walker | 2 | 0 | PR | Leigh Centurions |
| Joe McLean | 3 | 0 | PR | Gloucestershire All Golds |
| Billy McConnachie | 0 | 0 | PR |  Ipswich Jets |
| Josh Barlow | 0 | 0 | HK | Swinton Lions |
| Liam Hood | 3 | 4 | HK | Salford Red Devils |
| Lewis Clarke | 2 | 0 | HK | Edinburgh Eagles |
| Sonny Esslemont | 3 | 0 | SR | Hull Kingston Rovers |
| Corbyn Kilday | 2 | 0 | SR | Central Queensland Capras |
| Danny Addy | 3 | 8 | LF | Bradford Bulls |
| Dale Ferguson | 3 | 8 | LF | Bradford Bulls |
Wales
Head Coach:
- On 16 September, John's first selection move of 2015 was naming his new captain as Lloyd White.[10]
- On 29 September, John Kear named the following 24 players as part of his squad in preparation for the tournament.[11]
- On 2 October, Matty Fozard pulled out of the squad due to a broken jaw. He was replaced by Connor Farrer.[12]
- On 8 October, James Geurtjens of the Coventry Bears was called up into John Kear's squad.[13]
- On 12 October, captain Lloyd White withdrew from the team due to a knee injury.[14] Craig Kopczak was therefore announced as the new captain.[15]
- On 21 October, Coventry Bears prop Morgan Evans replaced Ben Flower in the team.[16]
Venues
The games will be played at the following venues in Wales, France, Scotland and Ireland.
| Wrexham | Albi | Galashiels | Cardiff | Avignon | Bray |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Racecourse Ground | Stadium Municipal d'Albi | Netherdale | Cardiff Arms Park | Parc des Sports | Carlisle Grounds |
| Capacity: 15,550 | Capacity: 13,058 | Capacity: 4,000 | Capacity: 12,125 | Capacity: 17,518 | Capacity: 7,000 |
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Standings
Fixtures
Note*France vs Wales Round 2 fixture has been moved to the 30th due to France's fixture Archived 26 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine with England on 24 October before England's series against New Zealand.
Round 1
16 October 2015 |
Racecourse Ground, Wrexham |
17 October 2015 |
Stadium Municipal d'Albi, Albi |
Round 2
23 October 2015 |
Netherdale, Galashiels |
*30 October 2015 |
Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff |
Round 3
7 November 2015 |
Parc des Sports, Avignon |
7 November 2015 |
Carlisle Grounds, Bray |
Matches details
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Perspective
All times are local: UTC+1/CET in French venues. UTC+0/WET in Irish venues. UTC+0/GMT in Welsh venues. UTC+0/GMT in Scottish venues.
Wales vs Scotland
16 October 2015 20:00 |
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- The victory for Wales ended their spree of 12 consecutive defeats with their last victory occurring four years ago.
France vs Ireland
17 October 2015 15:30 |
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Scotland vs Ireland
23 October 2015 19:30 |
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Wales vs France
30 October 2015 13:30 |
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- With the defeat, France still haven’t won a test in South Wales since 1948.
France vs Scotland
7 November 2015 15:30 |
Parc des Sports, Avignon Attendance: 5,737 Referee: Gareth Hewer Player of the Match: Tony Gigot (France) |
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Ireland vs Wales
7 November 2015 17:00 |
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Attendances
| Date | Game | Stadium | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 October | Wales 18 – 12 Scotland | Racecourse Ground, Wrexham | 1,253 |
| 17 October | France 31 – 14 Ireland | Stadium Municipal d'Albi, Albi | 4,681 |
| 23 October | Scotland 22 – 24 Ireland | Netherdale, Galashiels | 1,197 |
| 30 October | Wales 14 – 6 France | Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff | 1,028 |
| 7 November | France 32 – 18 Scotland | Parc des Sports, Avignon | 5,737 |
| 7 November | Ireland 4 – 30 Wales | Carlisle Grounds, Bray | 1,405 |
Broadcasting
beIN Sports broadcast both of France's home matches against Ireland and Scotland as well as their away match against Wales.[17]
References
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